Sword Art Online - Reborn
by Mew.Toretto
Summary: Before this, all I ever had was games...now I'm trapped in one... In this story, I, Mew, am one of the almost 10000 people who got trapped inside the death game Sword Art Online. Through out time, I will face adversities, my fears, and my personal problems... and i might finally find people who i can actually call friends...
1. Chapter Zero - Prologue

Hey, to anyone who found this, it's Mew here! So, for anyone who might not have read the description I have on my page (highly recommend it so you can understand more clearly what you are about to start reading), I'm gonna start a fanfic about Sword Art Online, a famous anime about a game that has that same name and which I will make a bit of a summary about what type of game it on this Chapter Zero before I start the actual Chapter First. (by the way, if you have not seen Sword Art Online, I seriously CAN'T put to words about how amazing and must see this anime is. It's easily my favourite anime ever so of course I can't really stress enough how awesome it is for me, but hope you give it a fair shake and enjoy that master piece XD) Anyway, has I said in my description, I either put my character on the place of another character, or I insert myself on the story. Well, probably most of you that might start reading this might be thinking i'm going to take Kirito's place in the series, well you would be wrong :D! I'm going to insert myself to the story, keeping most of the plot, inserting my own journey through the events that happen along the way and I will keep the exact same characters from the main story. I will eventually get to meet them, get to know them and... well i'm not telling you that much cause if you got here that means you really want a fanfic that bad after all my random rambling XD. So without any further a due...

Before this, all I ever had was games...now I'm trapped in one...

Chapter Zero – Prologue...

Let me start from the beginning...before I got stuck here, I was just a 10th grade student in a normal school on Tokyo, Japan. My daily basis was not that out of normal: wake up, go to school, come back home, get ready for next day and go to sleep again...with a couple of meals stuffed in the middle of course and a couple of idiots constantly making fun of me in school and you could easily say I had a pretty boring and useless life. I never knew what I wanted to do with my life...my parents died a long time ago...my family never knew how to act with me because even knowing that they were right...they saw my point of view as well...not having objective simply made me have no interest in school, so everything I that happened in my life was simply...wasteful...other than what I used to do after getting home...gaming.

Worlds with objectives, large journeys that made you attached to the very end...my favourites were always MMORPGs...no one knew who I was, so I simply could do what I wanted...and anyone who would try to do something about it...would simply go down to me.

I was, no...I'm a solo player. Has simple has that.

In every game I got in, I just wanted to be the best. I had an objective. I was a player for a living, except of course I wasn't receiving any money for it... I wish!

And then...this game came out...

SWORD ART ONLINE, aka SAO

The first ever game using the brand new Full Dive System, a system that would allow you to get inside a virtual world using an headset with all that technology called Nerve Gear. And inside that world...well...I would be like any other MMORPG...except, I would be like no other...with that technology, you play the game yourself, with your whole body, without moving a finger of my bed. The Full Dive System allows you to play the game in your dreams basically, but you still move, see and feel everything around you when you're inside that world.

I listed myself for the Beta Version of the game...and I just couldn't think of anything else...that game got me stuck to it, I was constantly thinking about it...the game consisted of a world with 100 floors in it, basically every floor was like a new country full of different environments, creatures and quests available...the objective? Simple, beat the main boss of every floor until reaching the Ruby Castle on the 100th floor, then slay the final boss...it was complex, it was hard...and the bosses in the game were overpowered comparing to the players most of the time...it was just...the world I looked for...just on the month the Beta was available (August 2022), I had beaten numerous floors, reaching the 10th floor by the day the Beta closed (August 31st 2022). I knew I would be starting from the 1st floor again, but I just didn't care... I needed to get to that castle, no matter the costs...at least...that was what I thought...

I got out of class early the day before the official release, I already had food for dinner and lunch for next day, a blanket and a pillow...surely I would have a ton of back problems when I got up, and I was going to miss class the next day... but I just didn't care... I had to have it...only 10 thousand copies would be available throughout Japan, and then some months later the developers would probably find a way to upgrade the servers into being able to support more people inside the game. But I had to be the one, I had to get to that castle... I had to be...the very best player...

At 12am, the game shop opened up. I was the first in line, but certainly on the only one waiting to get the game. Everyone that might be considered a proper gamer knew about the game. 3 or 4 youtubers got access to the Beta and the game just became a phenomenon way before the release, so everyone wanted the game...the second person who arrived to get behind me to get the game arrived around 22am...7 hours after me...no one was stopping me from getting that game... no one... I got inside the store, me and like the nineteen people behind me were allowed to get in, the others were kept outside to keep the number of people inside the store controlled...once they only allowed the first 20 to get in, people started going mad...real mad... I didn't care, I had waited for that game for ages...even spent a day of my life outside the store to get it...

I had right to pre-order since I played the Beta, so I reserved the Collector's Edition right when I had chance, it came with the game and a hologram device which would basically show a 3D image of anything I had in the game...my character, my weapon, anything, both in and outside of the game... paid 14414.95yen for it. I didn't care how much it would cost me, I had to have it... I ran as fast as I could to my house, not only to get in the game as fast as possible but also to guarantee that no one would try to take it off me...they wouldn't, but some surely would try...

The game servers would launch at 13:00, so I had to be quick... I got to my house, gave a kiss to my little sister (she is just two years younger than me, but she is still my little sister) and told her I had lunch already and to tell grandpa and grandma I didn't want anyone to get in my room. She knew what I was doing, she knew about the game. She also wanted to play, but we didn't have a second Nerve Gear for her. The one I had I got it with my own money from working here and there...the money for the game also came from it...my family was wealthy, VERY wealthy...but my grandparents never allowed me to use it, they always told me that I had to work and to keep some to get the things I wanted. I understood their point, so I always thought there was no problem about it...

I got inside my room and locked it, only my sister had a spare key for my room, so no one would get in unless she wanted to get in. I throwed my bag to the corner next to where my jackets were, along with my trainers. I laid in bed as fast as I could, turned everything on and got the Nerve Gear on my head... I was ready... ready to go back to my world...the world where I belonged...and ready to get to that castle...:

Mew- Link Start!


	2. Chapter I - New Game

Chapter One – New Game...

Every functionality of the Full Dive System checked itself to see if everything was working. It appeared scanned on the top left corner, little I knew what they were doing... I selected male gender, a hair style kind of close to mine and hair kept the hair the same colour of mine in real life. They asked my player name in the end... I never chose a different name than mine, so I selected my real name as usual: Mew. I confirmed my name and everything turned black... I opened my eyes...and then... I was in...

Mew- Finally... i'm back!

Aincrad, the world within Sword Art Online...my world... I looked at the right corner to the players online counter and there was only one player inside:

Mew- Well, it's actually my world, i'm the only one playing! I'm the best player already!

Suddenly, the number increased by seven, and then it started increasing massively:

Mew- ...god sake! Alright, I couldn't be this easy!

I didn't actually wanted it to be easy...it was the difficulty that that got me hocked in the first place, so I didn't mind... I ran throughout the starting village, getting a beginners book, which was written by all the beta testers that actually tested the game, not the scummy youtubers who only played it for views. Most of the advice you get from book was actually good advice, so its plausible to assume all the advices the Beta Tester made went under evaluation before making it to book. The thing is that the Beta Testers had their ID anonymous, only they would knew the advices they sent...

I saw like 7 advices from the 10 I submitted, and 2 others that I submitted but were with another Beta ID, probably because that player submitted it first. So basically I had 9 advices on the beginner's book out of the whole 50 in the entire book. My Beta ID had has much advices in the beginner's book has this other ID, so basically this other ID was my in game equal from the start... I was not letting him get ahead, I was gonna get to that castle first!

I ran through all the shops checking if there was any item that wasn't on the Beta, but there was no new items around... I still was able to get my first equipment set with all the 1000 col (Aincrad's coin) I got from the start:

Head: None

Torso: Red Coat (White Sprites) (250 Col)

Arms: Red Gloves [Basic Set]

Legs: Red Leggings [Basic Set]

Feet: Red Boots [Basic Set]

Weapon: Fireveil Sword +1 (600+150 Col)

Shield: None

Neck: None

Rings: None

I knew a long time ago what I was getting before I got on the grind, the majority of the armoury I could buy either wasn't worth the money for the upgrades I would get or it was too expensive for the upgrades it gave. I kept the majority of the base set I got in the beginning of the game, got a coat which would upgrade my physical defence and that gave me a bit more resistance especially to slashing attacks. I'll come in handy for what I want to do... I still got a better sword and even upgraded it on the local blacksmith, so I could deal more damage pre hit, standard stuff in an MMORPG...

At the starting point I knew right away the first thing I wanted to do, and no it was not get to the 1st floor's boss room. There was a certain temple that was on the starting town that had a boss on the last room, the enemies are kind of challenging for the first rooms of the dungeon but the last two rooms and the boss rooms would probably take a player around 10 to 15 levels to defeat on his own, and it would still be recommendable for that player to bring company...unless that player was me...

I went to the temple right away, no one had entered yet since the guards in the entrance would not let anyone pass...but I know that they don't enter the dungeon once you got in there... I entered the temple and made quick work of the first 4 rooms, and then the problem started...loads of kobolds similar to the ones I fought in the other rooms appeared at the same time, but with higher level than the ones before. I levelled up twice until this point, so them being around level 10 to 12 might be a little bit of a problem...unless I am playing...

They gave me a bit of trouble, but I still manage to kill most of them and get to the final room. The boss was summoned right after I entered the room...

Mew- ... (Fatal Scythe Lv20). This one would be very hard...if it wasn't for...

Mew grabs his sword like a spear and throws it, hitting Fatal Scythe's head and trespassing it, getting stuck on the floor of the room. Right after Mew's Sword gets stuck, Fatal Scythe is killed and vanishes, making a CONGRATULATIONS! notification appear in from of Mew.

I had done this before on the Beta, so he really didn't stand a chance... unless I missed which could have happened, glad that I didn't...the boss would be ridiculously hard with me in my at the level I was, if it didn't have an handicap against himself. You can only do damage if you hit his Scythe, which is as hard as it can get because its the only way you can hit him...unless you hit his mask, if you do you kill him instantly...

CONGRATULATIONS!

Time of Battle- 00:00:08

Nº of Hits- 1

Damage- 10000 HP

Highest Combo- 1

EXP Earned- 2500

MVP- Mew

Last Hit Reward- Reaper's Ring (reduces damage done by any slash attacks by 3%)

I mean, the room 4/5 Kobolds were the most challenging threat... I would have a nightmare with the boss if I didn't knew about the mask but it would still be worth the risk for the rings boost.

Mew- Risk... who am I kidding, as if I could die inside a game...

Little did I knew... it was already 17:30 once I got out of the temple, the bell on the starting town started ringing. Suddenly, every single player online teleported themselves or was teleported automatically to the main square...no one had an idea about what was going on...then a WARNING notification appeared in the sky, which then multiplied and ended up covering the owl sky. A liquid looking like blood started dripping from the sky, jointing together in mid air and turned into a cloak covered humanoid creature...there was no way to know if it was a human or simply a monster within the game...

?- Attention, players!

Mew- What is going on...[approaches the centre of the main square, going in the cloaked creature's direction]

Kayaba- My name is Kayaba Akihiko. And as of this moment, I am in control of this world.

Mew- [everyone starts commenting about Kayaba's reveal] The developer, huh? Hmm, I should be thanking this guy for making this game, I probably wouldn't be doing anything of interest in my room if it wasn't for him...

Kayaba- I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus – the log out button.

Mew- Huh? What does he mean by missing? [Mew checked his main menu to find an empty option right where the log off option was on the Beta] Hey, where has it gone to...is this a glitch?

Kayaba- Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, his is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be.

Suddenly, everyone either started checking their menus or started going mental:

Mew- Wait...what?! What do you mean?! I can't log out?!

Kayaba- You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the "NerveGear" from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the NerveGear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life.

Mew- (So we simply can't get out? The Nerve Gear has an alternative battery in itself, so not even the power being cut off would work...) [Mew looked around and almost every one either was begging to get out or was trying to leave the main square] ...we're stuck...

Kayaba- Despite my warning, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the NerveGear, an unfortunate decision, to say the least.  
As a result, the game now has two hundred thirteen less players than when it began.  
They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world.

Mew- Two hundred and thirteen already dead... (Iris will be seeing this... Iris please don't touch the NerveGear...I disappointed my grandparents once again...and now i'm stuck here...)

Kayaba- As you can see, international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of a NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It's important to remember the following: There is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system... forever.  
And the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain. There is only one way for a player to escape now... you must clear the game. Right now, you're gathered on Floor One, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game.

Mew- We have to clear the game to get out? (that's it...that's what I have to do is what I came here to do...no failing, no deaths, clear the game...)

Kayaba- Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player.  
Please have a look.

Everyone, including myself, opened their inventories and the item was a mirror, that activated automatically after opening the inventory. Suddenly all players changed appearance

Mew- Wait...what?

I didn't change appearance, but has people were finding out, the mirror revealed and changed them to their real appearance:

Random Guy- How does he know what we look like?

Mew- (...he is right, how does he...wait! That's what the Nerve Gear was scanning, physical data! I didn't change because my character was pretty much exactly what I look like in real life...)

Kayaba- Right now, you are probably wondering why. Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design.

Mew- (...you got us stuck in here so you could simply have a world of your own...you simply ruined the one game that didn't want ruined. This game was perfect...and now it's simply a trap...)

Kayaba- As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online.  
Players, I wish you the best of luck. 

And just has sudden has he appeared, Kayaba turned into the blood looking fluid again and disappeared from where he came from, and then the sky turned normal again, as practically every player went mental, screams, shouts, cries for help, every negative emotion was in that moment...players tried throwing themselves out of Aincrad, others just stood in the main square or around the main town... I simply walked to the exit.

As I arrived at the town exit, I could only think what I had done. How I got stuck, how concerned my sister would be, how disappointed and disbelieved my grandparents would be... there wasn't much I cared for in the real world...but my world had changed... and i'm not accepting this

And here I am, walking towards the exit, towards the 100th floor, i'm done disappointing people, i'm done failing and i'm done losing...it doesn't matter how long it takes, it doesn't matter how much it costs... i'm gonna beat this game...and if I find Kayaba along the way...I'm gonna kill him...


	3. Chapter II – Realization…

Hey guys, it's Mew here! Sorry for the delay on the chapter, I'm doing my best to do both since I love both stories and I'm getting many ideas for both. Just wanted to thank anyone who saw my stuff and actually followed/favorite on both my stories! And I use this to say right now, there is a certain character that is going to appear in this chapter who has quite the hard slang on the way she talks. I might exemplify on some points I remember throughout her dialogues but after that I'm simply writing the way I think she would speak because. Anyway, for those who know the series you all know who I'm talking about…for those who don't I recommend maybe searching videos of the character's speeches on the anime or on the games for you to get it. Alright, I'm not spending more of your precious time with my rambling, hope you enjoy and talk to you all later! :D

Chapter II – Realization…

Sandy Village, December 4th, 2022

It's been a month since I got trapped here… no one still knows what to make of this "new reality" that struck upon us… we were trapped…and we were not leaving anytime soon…

More than 2000 died since the game started... and it just gets worse by the second...

Most of us have been trying to survive, others are trying to find the 1st floor labyrinth to get to the boss room. The problem is none of them know what is awaiting them...except the beta testers...

For the last month, no one has found the floor's boss room. I think that's for the better... The beta testers have not gone there yet because all of us are probably grinding levels and getting equipment good enough to at least increase our chances of success to the maximum...

After all...there is no reset in this game...

Has most players, especially being a solo player, I've been making my way to the 1st floor's boss room, grinding the hardest I could on my levels and equipment along the way. Sometimes I even skipped sleeping entirely, just to work more levels and combat attacks. I started increasing Strength, Agility, Stealth and Awareness. I would fight creatures with levels a bit above me by getting a big special attack before they detected me so I would take big chunks of their health right on the start, making them easier to take out in the process. And on SAO, beating creatures with levels higher than yours would gives you insane amounts of Experience Points (EXP. Points) since the difference between each level is huge.

The one thing that has been giving me the biggest help ever was the one beta tester and SAO player that takes it's time to fully get every information before anyone else. The only person I had on my friend list and the ultimate info. breaker, Argo "The Rat".

She is always on the scene, weather it was new quests, new events, new items, equipment or creatures, no matter how much time had passed between the new content being added to the game and me asking her about it, she always had information about it...

We've been working together to help one another. She gets the information, I pay her and go get the items she finds for me. From time to time she also would ask me help with a quest or simply to get something for her. Of course she would give me some information in return, or maybe make me a discount on some information she would get for me. She eventually started lowering the price a bit since basically every day I would bother her for some new quests and rewards I could get. My luck is that she requested my help quite a bit too, so it was a good agreement we had going on.

It was around 09:00AM on Aincrad Standard Time (AST) when she called me due to a new quest she found. I went to the main square to meet her about this new content right after she warned me and I finished the quest I was already doing for her, After I arrived around 09:07AM AST. "Geez, you haven't been resting at all, haven't you?" "Ya [You] haven't been getting much sleep too from what I can see...it's already the second task ya [you] do for me today!" She has quite the hard slang, but i'm kind of used to it by now... "Yeah, but at least you get your stuff!" I open my menu to select her ID and a trade offer, offering just the 10 Reckless Fangs to her for free. She accepted the trade right after her trade notification appeared. "Ya never stop surprising, ya brought those in like 10 minutes!" "Killing Frenzy Boars isn't the hardest thing in the world, and I kind of got lucky with the drops. And you're welcome..." "Ahah,, don't worry! Imma give ya ya're reward right now!" "Now we're talking! So what do you have?" "I got some information about a certain quest in a cave located in the desert before Tolbana..." "That's the nearest town of the Floor's Labyrinth..." "Exactly! This quest's rewards are kinda good, it gives a good amount of col, but the main attraction here is that not only the quest boss drops good upgrade materials, but it drops the Tezla Cross, a necklace which increases slash resistance by 5%..." "T-That's amazing! (I already have the Reaper's Ring in my right hand, giving me 3% resistance against slash attacks, this will be huge if I get that necklace) Alright, let's get to work!" "But there is a problem...the quest might be too much just for ya..." I'm kind of confused... "What do you mean?" "I know that ya're a good player, but this is a very tough quest. And in case ya don't remember, we don't respawn in case of death" I have to admit, I don't really know what this quest holds, and this is not the beta. There is no second chances here... "...yeah, you're right. So what do you suggest?" Argo stood there a bit with a very thoughtful expression. "...well, I had thought about a solution, but ya'll have to team up with someone..." Yeah, I was kind of expecting this... Argo knows I don't like playing with others, that's why I play solo. But she has a point, and I know that...

"...*sigh*... I get it. So can that someone help us?" "Actually yes, that's why I thought about him! He wants some of the upgrade materials the quest boss drops, but since the quest is this hard he hasn't tried to face the boss alone..." "Hmm, I get it. So we work together to get both the rewards we want..." "Exactly, he is not a solo player and he is not as high levelled as you, but he is still a very good player..." Him not being has good as me doesn't make me comfortable, even thought I was already expecting it... Solo players are much more higher levelled than other players, and even thought this became a death game, there are probably still some solo players around...well, at least I am. I don't like having to team with other player lower levelled, because probably he is much slower than me, but that Tezla Cross Argo is talking about combined with my Reaper's Ring will be overpowered to say the least... "...alright, fine! Let's get that necklace then..." "Great! I'll message him now, it might take a while. Maybe you will want to rest or get ready for the quest?" "I'll be around town getting ready. I'll keep an eye on the my messages, don't worry..." "Alright, see ya later then...".

We said our goodbyes for now has I made my way to the local market, starting to check out equipment upon arriving. While I was checking my equipment with the shop's, my thoughts drifted a bit to the outside of the game. Can anyone I know be stuck here with me?...nah, that's extremely unlikely. Probably impossible even. No one I know is a gamer to such level as to get an expensive equipment such as the NerveGear and actually be early enough in the store to get a 10 thousand copy limited edition of a game. It seems more unlikely as more though I give to it. Nothing in this shop catches my eye. It's basically the same equipment from the Starting Town, with some being more expensive and others cheaper. The coat I got in the Starting Town was a bit cheaper here. Well, since we die in real life if we die here, I guess the purchase is worth it even knowing I spent more there than I would here. I give up on the equipment store and move on to the weapon shop, just to get the same view has the previous shop. Same weapons has the Starting Town, not the same prices. I quickly get going to the Crystal Shop. I stock my inventory with some Antidote Crystals, Healing Crystals and mainly Teleport Crystals. Good measure to assure I always have some for an emergency. Although my Col Budget was a bit low after the purchases, I was contemplating getting some more Teleport Crystals when suddenly a message notification popped on top of the players online counter.

Alright, show time! I closed the shop menu and thanked the NPC for her assistance, making my way to the main square right after. I got there before Argo did. She arrived around 5 minutes after I did accompanied by a guy, logically the friend she was talking about. I took a look at the him while they were approaching me. He didn't seem a very good player, but he didn't look like a beginner either. He had short, black hair and some tattoos on his neck and his right arm. "Hey, we're ready! This is Zadex, the guy I talked to you about. He will be helping us today!" He greets me after arriving with Argo. "Hey, let's get that quest done!" He gives me his right hand for an handshake, which I take to retribute the greeting. "Yeah, let's do this!" "Alright, you should probably get goin! It will still you take a fare bit of time to get to that cave". "Yeah you're probably right, let's go then!". He took a bit to realize I was talking to him. After he realized it, he took his hand from our handshake and finally agreed with me. "Yeah, we should be going. We'll take a while to get there!". After he checked his inventory, the three of us started making out way towards the cave.

They were not joking about taking a long time to get there, we took almost three hours to get a glance at the cave. After a bit more walking, we ended up reaching entrance. Argo turns towards me and Zadex before talking... "Alright, we made it! I'll go ahead to reach Tolbana while you get the items, I'll try and get some info. about the current situation of the search for the Floor's Boss Room and try to check if there is something useful we can get before challenging the Floor's Boss!" "Okay, when we get the quest done, me and Zadex will meet up at the Tolbana's Main Square!" "Sounds good, see y'all later!".

Argo starts running towards the tower of the labyrinth, which is the direction we must take from here to reach Tolbana. "Okay, let's get this done!" Zadex doesn't reply to me, simply nodding when I finish the sentence. He is probably scared, or simply he doesn't like talking. Either way, we need to get this thing done quickly, because I want that Tezla Cross, and I also want the Coat Midnight the Floor's Boss drops to the player who delivers the last hit to him.

We enter the cave, finding an old man sat in the caves ground right to our left. "This must be the Quest's NPC." I get a bit closer to the man to talk to him... "Good day, sir. Has something happened to you?" The man faces me with a sad and terrified expression in his face. "Oh...brave warriors, yes! Something happened! There is a creature in this depths of this cave...a man with the legs of a horse! The evil creature took my Poison Healing Potion! That Potion is needed to make a cure to my daughter, but it is extremely rare to encounter. I paid a fortune for it and it's the only thing it can save her! Please, I beg for your help!" The Quest Mark appears on top of his head right after I talked to him. Alright! It only gives us 5000 col each, which is not much, but with the items we're getting it's definitely worth it!

I accept the quest, with the notification confirming my action. "Sir, we will get the Potion you need from him!" "Ahhhh, thank you kindly! He must be in the very end of this cave! Watch out for the other dwellers in the cave, there are plenty of them around!" "Don't worry, just stay here while we get it back!" We leave right after, quickly trying to get through the cave.

It took us a while, and some considerable work to take out the creatures in the cave. Zadex looks like a good player, but he is not has skilled as me. He is a bit slower than I would like, but he gets the job done, and at the end of the day that's all I want. We ended up reaching the far end of the cave where the Boss spawned right after we arrived. It was indeed a Red Armoured Man with the legs has a body of a horse just has the old man described... "The Tezla Centaur...this will take us a while..." He dashing towards us right away, attacking us with his Spear right after that. "We need to work with switches to get him down! Get behind me!" Zadex does has I tell him. The Boss dashes towards us and right when he is about to hit me, I manage to parry his attack to my right flank, throwing my special skill right after. "Switch!" I step aside, giving Zadex space to use a special skill of his own to get The Centaur down for a bit. We both hit him multiple times while he is down, stepping backwards right after. "We can finish him by spamming this combo!" He nods, getting right in my back after that, and we use the same combo once more.

The battle is taking a fair bit , but we are getting the job done. We get his health down to the last of the 3 bars, but then, he throw his spear in our direction. He missed us, but spawns an halberd right after that. "This is about to get ugly...". He dashes once again, throwing a new combo of attacks. Some I manage to block, but I still take a good amount of damage. "Try to call for his attention for a second so I can use a healing crystal!". Zadex doesn't react, so I take it has he got what I asked and I jump away from him to get to heal. I open the menu has quickly as possible and has I am about to select the Healing Crystal, my awareness kicks in and I manage to somehow dodge The Tezla Centaur's hit in my back by jumping to my left side, falling on the floor of the cave right after. I look at the boss and right at Zadex on the other side of the cave. "He went after you, I didn't have a shot at getting his attention!" I jump for the floor to get up and jump a second time right after dodging a special attack from the boss. "A-Alright, let's just get together and finish him!" "Yeah...". Something is not right here... Zadex could have gotten his attention, and after all the fighting from the beginning of the quest he didn't say a word until now... I went in front of him, noticing he is not breaking a sweat while i'm starting to get tired and feeling the heat from all this fighting. The Centaur attacks, but while I parry his attack, Zadex dodges the attack to the side I jump, not attacking right after. "What are you doing?" "I didn't have space for the attack, just repeat the combo, I'll get it next time!" "Okay..." I get in front of him again but while i'm turning my back on him, I catch a bit of a glimpse at his expression. He...is..smiling... like he is enjoying this...is he trying to get me killed?. We repeat the process and he does exactly the same, but this time the boss gets a couple more hits on me, downing my HP bar to yellow stage (lower than half but not Red Bar /Critical Zone) "Sorry, but he is getting too fast. We better keep trying to hit him, he will get us if we try to heal..." This guy is literally trying to get me killed! Why?! Wait, is he after my items? But I don't have anything that good...except the...Reaper's Ring...it's the only in the game. And it's equipped in the hand I greeted him with...oh, you want to play deadly? Let's play deadly... I get in front of him once again. "This time we'll get him!" "Yeah let's get him at once!" The Tezla Centaur gets his special skill attack, dashing at us at full speed. Instead of parrying to the right, I side jump to my right before parrying and parry to the left, where Zadex jumped to. He gets hit with the full power of The Centaur's special skill attack, which drops his HP to Critical Zone. "W-What are you doing?!" "That's for me to ask! Why are you not attacking?! Are you trying to get me killed for covering your parries?" He takes a second to respond, just to smile right after. He jumps from the floor into between me and the boss, jumping right after triggering the boss to attack in my direction. I side jump to dodge The Centaur, He looks at me smiling. I'm not here to help you, all I want is that ring of yours...after that, I'll take care of the Boss's Necklace..." The thought of someone be able to just sacrifice some others life to get a bit of an advantage in this game is blimey... Even thought this is a Death Game, we're all fighting to get out of here. I better not think about this right now, I have to get him killed to save myself from this, but I can't attack him or my cursor will change to red (red is a criminal symbol in players who have stolen stuff or attacked another fellow player)...i have an idea, but I have to expect him to do the same thing he did again...

The battle continued for a couple more minutes, and even though I was managing to dodge the boss's attacks, Zadex was not only triggering The Centaur to attack in my direction, but he was somehow keeping a good distance between him and the Boss. He is probably trying to finish me... Suddenly he jumps close to me and grabs my arm. "Alright, this way he is hitting you for sure!" The boss gets ready and starts dashing in our direction. I quickly push him, getting myself free from him and right after that I jump far behind him. The boss swings the halberd, hitting Zadex while somehow I manage to not get hit by the distance I had from both. Zadex's HP get down to zero. "Y-You! You'll pay for this!..." As he finishes that sentence, his body turns to shatters and breaks apart...

The Tezla Centaur dashes right away at me, and has I can't jump to dodge the attack I jump in his direction, slightly parrying it to my right and using the balance of my side parry to spin in the air and hit him with a special skill boosted with my spinning motion. I manage to get so lucky to the point that the hit gets a Critical Hit boost because I hit him in his weak point which ends up bringing get me the win against him, has he vanishes in the broken shatters.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Time of Battle- 00:29:58

Nº of Hits- 67

Damage- 5000 HP

Highest Combo- 11

EXP Earned- 4000

MVP- Mew

Drops- Poison Healing Potion (Quest Item), Centaur's Gauntlets, Centaur's Essence (x5), Burning Orb (x10)

Last Hit Reward- Tezla Cross (reduces damage done by any slash attacks by 5%)

Has the Congratulations Notification pops in front of me, I fall into the ground from the tiredness I fell. My owl body collapses at the nerve racking battle that it just had and the glimpse of basically seeing death in this game right in front of my eyes sends me shivers throughout my entire body. I shake for a bit in the floor while trying to calm down, catch a bit of my breath and getting motivation to actually get up after that...

That...was...so close... I stay there, laying on the ground for a just a bit trying to process what just happened while trying to get myself to get up. Has i'm about to do it, I get my menu opened, check my inventory, use a Healing Crystal right away and equipping my newly gotten Tezla Cross. This has to be good, because I basically just went to the afterlife and back to get it! The feeling almost manages to amuse me...almost...

I concluded the quest and I managed to get out of the cave and after struggling with the heat of the desert, a "small" sandstorm and a couple of desert creatures, I manage to get to Tolbana. I look up into the sky to notice how close I am with the floor's labyrinth. I notice the Hours marker on the top right of my sight view marks 13:09AM.

I take about a minute to spot Argo on the Main Square. She is taking a look at her inventory near a garden bench, closing it right after she spots me. "Geez, ya look terrible!" "Oh yeah?! Really?! You have no idea how much of that is your fault..." I take a sit on the bench next to her, followed by a sigh has big as her how clueless she is about what happened in that cave. "Wait, what? What do ya mean?" The thought of Argo being the one who had set up that ambush crossed my mind, I think she knows if she wanted the ring that bad I could have just given it to her in exchange of the Tezla Cross. "And where is Zadex? He didn't come with you?" "Yeah, I did come with me! And he tried to get me killed!" She sits right away and gets close to me so no one would listen to our conversation. "What?! What are ya talking about?!"

I took a bit of time to explain what happened.

"He triggered the boss to attack you because he wanted to get your Reaper's Ring?! And somehow you managed to get the boss to attack him?!" "I didn't have other option, if I attacked him I would have..." "...ya would have gotten a red marker, I know..." "After I got rid of him, I manage to kill the boss... I mean, I got lucky with a special attack critical hit, but somehow I actually got out of there..." "I'm so sorry... I never imagined somethin like this would have happened..." "Don't worry, nothing can be done about it...at least now I have the Tezla Cross to help me get this floor done..." "Oh! Yeah, about that...the floor has already been cleared..."

I almost jump out of the bench when she finished. "W-What?! Really?! How?!" "Apparently a bunch of players gathered in somewhere here in the town on the last two days. They found the Floor's Boss Room and ended up putting together a raid and make an assault at the Floor's Boss..." "Wow... and they actually pulled it off..." "Well, it had its costs..." "Someone died?" "Yeah, the leader of the raid...basically he manipulated the team into basically giving him space do he could get the last hit, but the boss apparently used a different weapon and different attacks from the beta. He got hit and killed right away..." "So he was a beta tester..." "Yeah, but it wasn't just him. Apparently the ones that saved the raid from more deaths was a girl wielding a rapier and a guy using a blade, the last one getting the last hit reward..." "So that guy is the one who has the Coat of Midnight..." "And there is more, they don't know about the girl, but the guy was the one who noticed right away the boss's different weapon, and the raid noticed right away he was a beta tester as well. They ended up callin him a Beater..." "Beater? What do you mean by Beater?" "They called him a cheater for playin the beta and not helpin them out even though he saved them, so they put both words together." "Beater...that doesn't sound bad for some reason..." Argo gets up before continuing "Don't go out there sayin that out loud. Everyone is kinda hatin Beta Testers after what happened..."

A Beta Tester managed to get rid of the 1st Floor's Boss...it has to be the same player who submitted the same advices has I did on the beginners book. I got to get going... "Alright, see you soon!" Before I leave, Argo calls me out. "W-Wait, aren't you getting some rest after that?" "I can't let that Beater get ahead from me! I have to catch up with him!" I start running towards the labyrinth. "Wait!" Argo tried to stop me, but at that moment nothing would have done it.


End file.
